Developmental plasticity refers to the ability for the external environment to modulate development leading to the production of different phenotypes from the same genotype. Genotypes can differ in many properties of reaction norms such as height, slope, or shape. Despite being well-known that there is genetic variation for properties of reaction norms, which is the raw material for the evolution of plasticity, too little is known about the genes that contribute to that. Here, we characterized thermal reaction norms in butterfly wing pattern for different pigmentation variants to test the hypothesis that alleles that affect pigmentation also affect plasticity therein. We characterized thermal reaction norms for the eyespot color rings of four Bicyclus anynana genetic stocks corresponding to allelic variants affecting eyespot size and color composition. Our results show variation between genetic stocks in the height, slope and shape of reaction norms providing evidence for significant GxE effects. Genotypes with alleles affecting eyespot size and color were the most sensitive to variation in developmental temperature. However, this was true for only one of the wings suggesting organ-specific allelic effects. This study underscores the complexity of GxE interactions and their importance for the evolution of developmental plasticity.

Date Submitted: 2016-04-27